


Solace In The Sand

by CynicalBonehead



Series: Childish Respite [2]
Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Anxiety, Comfort, Comfort Reading, Emotional Baggage, Only a mention though, Platonic Relationships, Reader-Insert, Sandy using telepathy to talk to you, Tags Are Hard, implied trauma, positive affirmations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28717194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CynicalBonehead/pseuds/CynicalBonehead
Summary: Another attempt to sleep has you meet another dream entity. This one however sticks around to chat with you over a cup of tea. He has much to say to you.
Series: Childish Respite [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2105166
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Solace In The Sand

How many times do you have to go through this?  
You've asked yourself that so many times at this point.  
All you've been able to do is stare at the ceiling as your anxieties plague you enough to keep you awake. You'd say its getting tiresome but that would be an understatement. The waking world can't leave you alone. As per usual, you pull your phone out and scroll through random webpages until you feel like you could pass out again. It isn't the most healthy choice but its all you can really do at this point to keep the anxious thoughts away.

It isn't until Ass o'clock that your brain finally calls it quits and knocks you out.  
Its a cycle at this point. Nightmare. Wake up. Anxiety. Pass out. Start the day. Dread the entire day. Finish day. Repeat. It's all the same. Everything is just so hard right now and you just want a fucking break. That's all. Just one. You already had a weird dream the other night involving a strange shadow man...Maybe tonight would be less exciting.

Hmm.

You ponder about how you're still conscious enough to be aware that you're in the process of dreaming. Did REM sleep hit you yet? Are you just daydreaming until you're ACTUALLY asleep??

Something feels different about this dream....

You look around you and you can see the orange-purple painted sunset all around you. Clouds moving slowly but no air movement can be felt by you.

'This is a new one..' You think to yourself.

Then, you see it. A golden cloud drifts over to you and becomes large enough to go under your feet for you to stand on. You reach down to touch it out of curiosity and it...looks like sand? The sand begins to move and materialize something in the center of the cloud. A small golden man emerges from the sand, his face had a natural warmth to it that made you feel like you were with a close friend. After stumbling back on your feet, it's made apparent how small this golden man is. Danny DeVito comes to mind when you look at his size but this man is obviously radically different. He smiles warmly at you and you can see sand like images appear above his head.

"Uh...I-I'm sorry I don't think I understand.." You stutter out.

He looks disappointed but you can see images of cogwheels turning above his head. Then the wheels quickly turn into a light bulb.

'Can you hear me?'

Holy shit that voice did not match the little man at all.

'Sorry. I can see you're a little confused... Not to worry! This isn't my actual voice. What you are hearing now is the voice that is the most comforting for you specifically. It's almost essential in dream visits like these.' He smiled.

His mouth didn't move at all when talking, so his story seems to hold up. You question him about the dream part, along with where you two are now. Is this place your dream??? How did he get in here? Was he someone you knew? W-

'Okay Okay. I see you're a little confused. Allow me to elucidate on this matter. Yes, this is your dream my friend. I've known you for quite a long time.. Your whole life in fact! Though you've only caught rare glimpses of me in your childhood.. I am The Sandman.'

You need to take a second.

okay.  
so.  
The Sandman is supposedly real-

'I'm very real.' He corrects you.

This could just be your subconscious fucking with you again but..You can sort of feel his presence, like actually feel his presence. If you had to describe it, it'd be like he was sitting by your bedside. With a quick sigh, you manage to collect yourself and then ask another question. What was he doing here in your dream?

'That's simple.' He floated up and a chair made of the golden sand appeared under him. 'I can sense every dream in the world and use my golden sand to give people good dreams. Yours however....worried me so I came over to see for myself.'

He's worried about you..? Why? You're fine, you tell him.

Sandy's face looks more concerned and he shakes his head.  
'I know you're lying to me friend. I've seen your dreams as of late... Your situation and thoughts haven't been very merciful with you lately. It's been affecting your dreams-'

You want to turn away from him. Maybe deny more of his claims or just leave. Why would he be concerned about you over everyone in the world. Surely there was someone in a worse situation than you who needed his attention.  
Sandy audibly sighs a little and offers you a seat. You hesitantly step forward and the sand forms you a comfortable chair to sit next to Sandy.  
He's quiet for a moment and stirs a tea cup that you swore he didn't have before. He smirks at you and raises it a little.

'Jasmine.'

Okay. You're just gonna assume since he's a lord of dreams or something, that he can conjure whatever he likes in the dreamspace you two are sharing. He sips from the cup before speaking again.

'You're very strong..you know that?'

His words start to sting but you bite your lip and continue to listen.

'I mean it friend. I'm sure you've heard it a lot from other people, but I'm saying it as someone who's seen you through all of this from afar. Everything you've been through hasn't taken you down yet. You've survived every 'worst day ever' that's come your way and it's very impressive.'

It isn't that special, you think. You're just surviving. Trying to get by until there's a glimmer of hope that things will get better. You want to believe that it will deep down, but with everything going on with you, your friends.. the world... it's so hard to hold onto hope for so long with no end in sight.  
Sandy nods along with you and looks out into the sky around you two.

'You're right. It is scary right now.. that's why it's okay to not be brave and strong all the time. It's okay for us to want to run away from everything and duck our heads under the sand like a bird.'

You want to correct him that Ostriches really don't do that but the weight of what he said hits you in the chest before you could even open your mouth.

'I've seen countless numbers of children in situations like yours and I try to tell them the same thing. It can be hard sometimes. Seeing them desperately looking for some avenue of escapism or respite. I can't whisk them away to better places or get rid of whatever scares them the most. When I saw your nightmares.. that guilt washed over me because i know you deserve better.'

Sandy notices you glance away and you can feel him looking right at you.

'I do mean that. There is hope for you and everyone around you. You will grow from this and get out of it.. but you won't if you give into it. You've been amazing at fighting these emotions so far.. and I know I cannot fix it all for you.. So that's why I'm here now. To give you respite and truths you may have forgotten about yourself. Despite what you might think, you are worth it. You're worth doing this for.'

Your hands grip your legs tightly while you try not to cry. Some rebellious tears slip out of your eyes and you feel like you might crumble on the spot. The Sandman didn't need to see this. He didn't need to do any of this and he did. He came out of his way to see you and comfort you personally.. God you're an absolute mess. He doesn’t seem to mind at all to see you so vulnerable. With a flick of his wrist he conjures a box of tissues and offers the whole thing to you. You take a few and reluctantly blow your nose into a few. Once the tissues were used, they vanished right before your eyes. The power that man held in the dream world kept amazing you with each display.

Sandy chuckles seeing the small twinkle of wonder in your eyes. Its exactly what he was hoping to see from you.

You reluctantly ask him if you cry in your dreams, does that mean you’re crying right now in your sleep? You honestly don't want to wake up to a wet pillow.

He taps his fingers on his knee in thought, ‘Sometimes! The stronger the emotion, the more likely it is to become real! That's a different story to those who urinate in their sleep but that's a whole other messy matter I try not to think about.’

It's enough to get you to chuckle slightly. Despite being a very soothing presence, Sandman could be a little silly. After everything you'd been through in one day, you sort of needed a breather. He is right, you think. You did deserve this. Perhaps with time you'd be able to agree with him of all the positive things he said about you. Something about a spirit like him believing in you made you feel all warm.

Thank you, you whisper to him.

Sandy perks up and smiles at you with the warmth of a morning sun, 'Of course. I'm happy to see you are cheering up a little.' He sets his cup down and makes the box of tissues vanish. 'I have an idea. I will conjure up the best dream for you tonight and if you don't like it you can take control and change it however you please.'

You sit up a little straighter in surprise. He can just let people lucid dream???

'Sort of. It's temporary so you can only do it for tonight. Unless you learn how to do it on your own of course.' He says with a wink.

Sandy levitates off the chair and began conducting some sand like it was a mini orchestra. He turned to you with a handful and you almost didn't want to go. There were so many more questions you had for him! Like if he visited every person like you or babies or the elderly. You try to sputter some of the questions out but Sandy calmly sighs.

'Perhaps another time my friend. We will meet again under better circumstances, I promise. Until then, maybe write down these questions so you don't forget them.'

That's right, he's a very busy man. You nearly forgot since he was so casual with you during his visit. This felt like a goodbye to an old friend you haven't seen in ages.

'Remember what I told you. Your sign of hope is coming.'

Sandy blows the dreamsand towards your face but instead of lulling you to sleep; it swirls around you like a slow whirlpool. The cloud you were standing on begins to slowly fade along with the scenery around you. Sandy waves goodbye to you and he becomes more and more out of focus in your vision. You try to wave back and tell him he better keep his promise or you'll lucid dream annoying things out of spite.

'You truly are a unique one!' You manage to hear him laugh just before everything goes to black.

The dream you had that night was one you'd carry with you for many years to come.


End file.
